Free drinks and sex? Austrian brothel protests ‘punitive taxes’

A licensed brothel is Salzburg, Austria, is offering free entrance, free drinks and free sex all summer in protest of what its owner says are punitive taxes.

“In the last decade I have paid taxes of almost €5
million,” Herman Muller, Salzburg’s “red light district
king,” was quoted as saying by The Local, a European news
portal. “The problem is, the tax office wants more and more,
and they are not cracking down on illegal street and apartment
prostitution.”

As a result, his Pascha establishment in Salzburg posted the
following offer on its website: “We are not paying taxes any
more. Effective immediately: Free Entrance! Free Drinks! Free
Sex!”

Muller complains that officials come to check up on his business
at Pascha every 14 days. “They allow me no room for
maneuver,” he said.

The Kronen Zeitung tabloid says the news “has spread like
wildfire, with punters lining up to get inside.” The
Osterreich tabloid newspaper showed a picture of men queuing up
outside to make the best of the offer.